Improvement in metallurgy gas-furnaces



UNITED STATES JOHN THOMAS, OF MIDDLESBROUGH, ENGLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN METALLuRelc GAs-FuRNACEs.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.

April y To all whomn zt may concern:

Be it known that I, J oHN THOMAS, of Middlesbrough, England, haveinvented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Furnacesfor Generating Gas and Melting Metals 5 'and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters and figuresmarked thereonthat is to say:

My invention has reference to furnaces for generating gas and meltingmetals; and it consists in the employment of bricks withaltenatingspa'ces in the gas-main chamber for separat-ing fthe dust orother foreign matter from the gas in its passage through it, and inproviding said gasmain with doorways and doors for the removal of dust,and in a hopper arranged over the throat of the gasmain for introducingcoals into the same.

4 Figure l of the annexed drawings is a longitudinal section of myimproved furnace. Fig. 2 is an end elevation, and Fig. 3 is a plan, ofthe same. s

As shown in the drawing, A, Fig. l, is the body of the furnace, casedwith iron e, lined with fire-brick and clay h, and supported on fourcolumns, c. B B are water-boshes with spikes or ribs cast on them tohold up the lining of fire-resistin g material. C are tuyeres for blast.l D is a hopper for charging the furnace with material.` E E are slidesfor admitting the fuel, metal, land fluxes into the furnacegeneratorA,which, being opened alternately bythe gear F,wi1l prevent the escape ofgas. G G are, casings around the slides to prevent the gas escaping. Iis the blast-pipe from the blowingmachine, and H the stop-valve. K

t isa chimney over the top of the `generatorfurnace to carry o any gasthat might escape while charging( L is a hopper with double `slidesullfor introducing coals or other carbonaceous materials into the throat sfor improving the quality of the gas and increasing the quantity. M is aflue for taking oif any light gases that may collect on the topof thefuel. O is the gas-mainV chamber or dust-trap illed with bricks g, withpassages between' 139,834, dated yJ une 10, 1873; application filed 25,1873.

i them for the circulation `of the gas, and provided with door-ways N Nfor removing :the

dling'machines or otherfurnaces with shut-ofi` valve R. S is a throatway or passage for O. T is'the tap-hole for running off the metal andslag, and U Uare the columns which slipport the gas-main.

In constructing my improved furnace I make a sound foundation of brickor stone, a, Fig. l, and on this I place a foundationplate, b. On theplate I layoneor two courses of bricks, and on the bricks I Iii'r one ormore the specification of my invention for which Letters Patent of theUnited States were parts as is most convenient, and through them,

holes, d, for air, and also tapping-holes T to these boshes, or sidenextthe re, is spiked or holding the lining. I then iix four columns, c,Figs. 1 and 3, one on each corner ofthe foui1`dation-plate. I next makethe upper cas tached, which casih g may be of wrought or cast iron, andI fix the same on the water-boshes and `bolt them fast. I alsofirmlyfasten four brackets, f, Fig. 3, to theoutside of the casing, whichbrackets bear otr and are bolted to the casing, and Venable the boshesto be repaired or replaced with new ones when necessary. I

jecting gas-main O S, to support the same. On. the gas-main and near thethroat S, which connects it with the upright generator, I fix a' alsofix on the gas-main the service-pipes, and in each service-pipe I iit avalve or sluice, 1t. On the top of the gas-main I apply a safetyvalve,P, for relievingany excess of pressure. At the end of the gasmain,and`near the botdust. P is a safety-valve with chimney and casing. Q,gas-main service-pipes to pudt the gas from the generator A to thedust-trap` water-boshes, B, similar to those described in l granted,dated March 8, 1870," No. 100,566. y

These water-boshes may be made in asmany u in suitable places, l formone or more blast` run out the metal and cinder. "The inside of ribbed,as seen in Fig. 1, for the purpose of ing e with a projecting gasmainbranch, s, at-

columns. These columns support `the upper` also iix four other columns,U, under the pro` hopper, L, with two sliding shutters,'l l.` I v tompart, I make one or more door-ways and doors, N N, which doors aresecured with a crossbar and screw, as in ordinary gas-retorts. 0n thetop of the upright casing e I place a hopper, D, Fig. 1, having twosliding shutters, E E,- with levers or gears F, Fig. 1, to work them,and on the hopper I iix a chimney, K, with a door-way for charging,which chimney is to carry oif any gas that may escape through thehopper. I also form an outlet, M, under the lower sliding shutter, andiix a pipe with a valve on the top, so as to let off, when necessary,the light` gas that will accumulate in the upper part of the generator;risk of explosion is thusprevented. When I have erected the`furnace-casing e, I line the water-boshes inside on the spikes or ribswith clay or other fire-resisting material, which lining should be abouttwo inches thick; and from the top of the water-boshes I build firebrickL up to and through to the hopper on the top of the gas-generator. Ivalso build re-brick all over the inside of the gas-main, and lineinside the service-pipes with brick or clay. On the bottom of thegas-main I lay iron bars, (grder-shaped,) from nine inches to twelveinches high, and separate from each other so as to allow a clear spacethrough the length of the bottom opposite the end doorways. On the ironbars I lay or build up dry bricks g, Fig. l, with spaces between thebricks for the passage of the gas, and I lill the gas-main up to or nearthe top with these bricks, excepting a clear space under the gas-mainhopper L or in the throat S, connecting the gasniain with Vthe uprightgenerator, and also a clear space under the service-pipes to allow thegas to go olf freely. I convey a blast of air to the furnace from anyordinary blowing-machine, and if ga's of very high temperature is`required I heat the air in its passage from the blower to the generatorin any suitable stove or furnace. In the air-blast pipe I, and near theorifice or inlet to the generator or furnace I fit a sluice or valve, H,so as to regulate the quantity of the air, or to shut it off entirely.Having lined the generator melting-furnace, A, I dry the same, and Ithen let into the boshes B, through a pipe, sufficient water to keepthem comparatively cool, which water will iiow off through the outlet orwastewater pipe. I then raise the fire in the upright generator A, andwhen I have charged the same with sufficient fuel, which fuel should begood sound coke, or coke and coal mixed, I charge metal and iiuxes withthe fuel until the furnace or generator is full up to the under shutterof the hopper. I then close the hopper D on the top of the generatorwith the slide-shutters E, and I open the valves in the service-pipes. Ithen set on the airblast through the tuyeres C, and the gas producedbythe union of the oxygen of the air, uniting with the carbon andhydrogen of the fuel, will pass through the throat, andi through andbetween the spaces ofthe loose' bricks g in the gas-main O, to theservice-- pipes Q, and the gas will be conveyed bytheI servicepipes tothe different furnaces requiredl to be heated. I convey to eachheating-furd nace, by a proper-sized pipe,a blast of air, and I soarrange the gas-pipe and the air-pipe that the gas and air shall comeinto contact on their entering the furnace to be heated; and if a hightemperature is required I heat the air before it enters theheating-furnace. If it is necessary to enrich the gas with carbon Icharge the hopper L on the gas-main with coal or other carbonaceousmaterials 5. I draw the upper slide l and let the charge fall onto thelower one, and I then close the .upper slide and open the lower one,when the charge will fall on the hot coke in or near the throat S, whichconnects the gas-generator A with the gas-main O, the heat of which willcause the gas to evolve from the carbonaceous material supplied, whichwill improve the quality of the gas issuing from the gas-generator andincrease the quantity. As the materials sink down in the gas-generator Icontinue to charge more materials through the hopper D,

'and this I perform by withdrawing the upper slide-shutter and lettingthe charge of materials fall onto the lower one, and Aby then closingthe upper one and opening the lower one so as to allow the charge tofall into the gas-generator. This I perform regularly, so as to keep thegenerator nearly full. Then there is sufficient metal I tap and run itout into a converting-furnace, which metal may be converted into iron orsteel, as may be required. The water-boshes protect the lining on thelower part of the generator from being burnt or melted away, and willkeep the inside in proper form for a considerable time. The loose bricksin the gasmaiu, which are-set apart from each other forthe passage ofthe gas, are so placed that the current of gas may strike against them,and that the dust and ashes blown from the generator, by strikingagainst the bricks, will fall to the bottom of the gas-main between thegirder-shaped iron bars, from which they may, from time to time, becleaned out through the door-ways N N.

The bricks also keep the gas hot. The melting of the metal and fluxes inthe gas-generator dissolves the cinder deposit from the fuel; whichcinder will combine with the fluxes in a liquid state, and can be runoff as may be required, thus keeping the bottom clear from obstructions,(accumulation of solid cinder having hitherto been a hindrance to thesuccessful workin g of this description of furnace,) and also, at thesame time, melting the metal for the converting-furnaces, which willsave the time and cost of melting in other furnaces.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-..

1. like bricks g, in combination with the gas In witness whereof I, thesaid JOHN THOMAS, main chamber O, substantially as and for have hereuntoset my-hand this twentynnth the par?. se `herein set forth. day ofNovember, one thousand eight hundred Ingncombination with the gas-mainO, and seventy-two. provided"with the bricks g g, the door-ways N` ,tand. doors` arranged substantially as and for JOHN THOMAS. the purpo'geiherein set forth. 1

3; The hopper L r` equiyalent, arranged Witnessessover the throat of thegas-main for introducing I. C. MEWZBU'Ii,` goals or other carbonaceousmaterial` thereto, GEO. BACON, tlbtlltillyl as Set forth. 169 I leetstreet, London.

